


ain't that just the way

by Spectascopes



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Cruelty, Depressed Sans, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Minor Violence, Mute Frisk, Papyrus Isn't a Good Brother, Sans Has Issues, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, emotional issues, frisk makes him question that even more, pretty much everything is awful, sans doesn't understand why it has to be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-16 02:17:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5809858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectascopes/pseuds/Spectascopes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk makes it out of the Ruins with Flowey's help, but is quickly captured by a rather terrifying skeleton who likes to call them names and pick on them. They are injured and scared, but Sans isn't quite like Toriel and the other monsters in the Ruins. He might be rude, but he isn't cruel.</p><p>Sans captures a human and knows his bro will be super impressed, but Frisk isn't like the monsters. They are scared but kind. Sans has always had dreams of things being different, where he wears his favorite blue jacket and his brother loves him, but could being happy really be possible?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. This One Is Different

Frisk rested outside of the ruins until the terror in their chest had calmed to mild fear. Flowey had saved them, but was he okay? Had Toriel taken her anger out on him? Their little heart fluttered in fright at the thought of the poor little flower suffering because of their actions.

It was the cold that eventually drove Frisk to rise to their feet again and look around. The forest they found themselves in was covered with dry, powdery snow that came up to their ankles and freshly coated the forest floor. No footprints marred the white blanket. The silence of the area was eery, but it was better than the harsh, hurtful words of that awful monster from before and the searing fire in her palms. The thought made the various burns on Frisk's body twinge, but the cool air was making them feel much better.

They gulped, still very much afraid, but forced their shaky legs to continue on. It wasn't cold enough to numb their fingers just yet, but any more than a few hours in the mess would leave them shivering and vulnerable to attack. Flowey's warnings echoed hauntingly in their mind- the monsters are cruel. Do not fight them. Run if you can. Talk your way out, but don't fight them unless you have to. It's kill or be killed out there. Don't get killed.

If Frisk could speak, they wouldn't have. The crunch of the snow beneath their boots was enough of a disturbance to set their chattering teeth on edge. There wasn't much underbrush, but that didn't mean monsters couldn't pop out onto the worn path, concealed behind nearby trees. They walked the path knowing that if they couldn't find somewhere to stay, they'd be an icicle in no time. They eyed a branch in their way for only a second before stepping over and walking on.

The noise of snapping wood made them jump and turn like lightning. They whirled to look for enemies but there was nobody to be found. Their breath had hitched and became shallow, and when they became conscious of the raspy noise they slapped their hands over their mouth. The branch had been broken. It sat there innocently in the path like a sleeping demon.

They felt watched. Something knew they were there. Frisk's heart skipped and pounded, but no matter how fast they turned their head there wasn't anybody to find. They stayed frozen in place for what felt like hours. Eventually, the terror had calmed just enough for them to turn back and-

They came face-to-face with two pitch black eyes.

A helpless noise rose from their throat as they fell backwards into the snow. It would've been a scream if Frisk was capable of screaming.

The monster stood with hands in pocket, looking down at them with a sneering grin on their face. They looked like a skeleton- at least their legs did. But Frisk wasn't looking so much at the monster's legs- their attention was drawn to the sharp points of their teeth that caught the light just right. One was gold- but it was still just as pointed and cruel.

Frisk would've ran, but they were paralyzed in fear. The monster didn't make a move, only shifted their stance to a more natural position and let their smile grow a little bigger. After a moment of dread, two small white pupils flickered to life in the blank eyes of the skeleton.

“What've we got here? Some little kid who doesn't know their place, looks like,” the monster said in a distinctly male voice. “This is me 'n my bro's turf.”

Frisk gasped helplessly. If they had a voice, would they have been able to speak? The monster took a step closer, eying Frisk like a wolf would a lamb. Their heart was gripped in fear and their muscles tensed to flee but before they could make a single move something sleek and white flashed by their face.

Frisk yelped, a pitiful noise, but the idea of running died as blood trickled down the scratch on their face. The monster took a knee far too close, twirling another bone between his fingers.

“Aw, come on now, you don't think I'm gonna let you go without punishment, do ya?” he said softly.

Frisk couldn't feel their fingers, but they tightened around the snow. They felt tears mix with the blood and sting the wound he'd made on their skin.

His smile faltered. His eyes went to the tears on Frisk's face and he took a hand from his pocket and reached forward.

Frisk sucked in a breath and flinched away.

“Hey brat, I'm not hurtin' ya, so stop it,” he said harshly. As the hand came closer it took every ounce of will in Frisk's body to not draw away again. They closed their eyes tight in preparation for another blow.

The hand that touched their face was surprisingly gentle. The skeleton's slender, boney hand cupped one of Frisk's cheeks and he used his thumb to wipe the tears and blood from it's surface.

Frisk's eyes opened as he drew away and no further injury came. The monster was still kneeling beside them, but he was curiously inspecting his skeletal hand. It was smeared with blood.

“What's this shit?” he asked, turning his digit this way and that. “Looks like ketchup.”

Frisk gulped. They shifted slowly so their hands didn't have to prop them up, and the movement drew the skeleton's eyes from his hand to watch. Frisk brought up their cold fingers and signed as best they could.

_“Blood.”_

The monster smirked and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, see, I don't know that sign language crap,” he said rather casually. Frisk allowed their hands to fall again as the rather stocky monster brought the blood-smeared finger closer to his face.

With a rather slow and curious motion, he opened his mouth to reveal a strange and luminous red tongue. He didn't so much lick the blood as he did lay his tongue against his thumb.

His face scrunched up reflexively, and he turned to spit out some faintly red-tinted liquid onto the ground. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his black jacket.

“God that's nasty! What're humans made of, salt? Garbage? Christ.”

Frisk didn't know what to do. The monster seemed engrossed in his disgusted ramblings, but they had nowhere to run and if they tried he'd probably hurt them again. But as it was, he didn't seem all that threatening. They watched, still afraid, but not so much as before.

The monster finished wiping his shark-like teeth before he rose again. His one gold tooth kept catching the dim light and with it, Frisk's attention. He noticed this, of course, and grinned.

“What, you like it?” he asked, flashing his teeth. “Papyrus thought it was lame. He doesn't know shit.” The skeleton suddenly reached out a hand, and Frisk jerked away on instinct. Then they realized that he was offering his hand to be taken.

They reached up and took it. Offending this monster didn't seem like a good idea. He roughly pulled them to their feet, nearly wrenching Frisk's arm from it's socket.

“The name's Sans,” he said while he watched the child like a hawk. “You're pretty lucky you're a human- I woulda killed anybody else by now.”

There was something about the way he shifted when he said it that made Frisk question if that was true. They rubbed their arms and huddled in on themselves. Sans's eyes followed their every movement.

“I'll get some big money for turning you into the King. He loves humans- I hear he keeps them as pets before he kills them and takes their soul.” Sans chuckled to himself when Frisk's eyes went wide. “Yeah, not really my thing, either. If I was King I'd just sleep all the time and get my guards to do all that dirty stuff.”

Sans began to walk, and he gestured for his captured human to follow. “Well come on, are ya brain dead? You're captured. So do what I say or I might have to _patella_ my bro that you died of cold on the way home.”

His words made Frisk's legs move, but this monster wasn't as coldly horrifying as Toriel had been. He wasn't so cruel and heartless. Frisk used the sleeve of their sweater to wipe the blood from their cheek, but the cut wasn't very deep at all. And, luckily, Sans was rather short and chubby, so keeping up with him wasn't hard.

“Kinda stinks you can't talk, though,” he chattered as Frisk walked a couple steps behind him. “Would've loved to hear ya scream.” He turned back to look at them with a grin on his face. The hood of his jacket obscured most of it except for his eye, though, but that just made him even more scary.

They walked. Frisk, beginning to relax ever so slightly, took a moment to admire the scene around them. The snow was bright and sparkly in the dim lighting. The trees looked like some form of birch if they weren't the obvious pine. No monsters followed them, and with Sans leading them they weren't so careful to keep track of every little detail around them.

Frisk was cold by the time a small town crept into view. And by cold, they meant absolutely freezing. Sans didn't talk all that much except to bark at Frisk to hurry up when they'd get more than a few paces behind. He kept his hands in his pockets and any time he'd look back, that perma-grin would be on his snow-white face.

A rocky outcropping between the forest and the town was the only connection between the two in sight. Sans stepped out onto it without pause, but the drop below and the lack of rails made the human halt. It wasn't narrow by any means- if somebody stayed to the middle they could trip and fall and still stay very much in safety. But Frisk's legs shook regardless.

Sans looked back about ten paces onto the bridge to find Frisk standing on the brink of it. They looked at him helplessly, trying to convey that they weren't trying to disobey. When Sans turned to face them, he didn't say anything immediately. With his hands in his pockets, he tipped his head back and smiled at the human. He made a little noise of amusement.

“Seriously? You're scared of heights?”

Frisk looked down to the snow and inched forward. They had to go across, they knew it, but the drop was fatal and there were no ledges to speak of. It wasn't a very long gap, but Frisk's heart was pounding.

“Come on, pal. My bro is gonna get mad if I'm home late. I'm used to him beatin' me up, but you're a whole new punching bag. Lets get a move on.”

 _“I'm sorry,”_ Frisk signed helplessly. Sans blinked, a flash of understanding on his face. Frisk took a hesitant step out onto the bridge, but then they made the mistake of looking down and suddenly their legs wouldn't move.

Sans began to walk back to them, and their chest tightened in panic. They felt tears well in their eyes.

_“Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm trying, I'm sorry, don't hurt me.”_

“Easy on the hands there, runt,” Sans said, but his voice was still amused. He didn't look angry but past Frisk's tears it was hard to tell. “I know a lost cause when I see one.”

He was going to push them over the side. He was going to kill them. Frisk couldn't move an inch as the monster finally stood in front of them and grinned down.

_“No no no I'm sorry I'll go I'll move don't-”_

Sans reached out a hand and grabbed one of Frisk's wrists. “Hey, pal, I said stop that. You have ears, right? I understood 'sorry' but you're goin' a million miles an hour. Chill.”

They blinked away the tears to look at the skeleton monster, but he wasn't looking at them with any sort of cruelty in his features.

“You're lucky I'm not my brother,” he said, still holding their wrist. The touch was by no means gentle, but it wasn't enough to hurt. “Come on, you worthless baby. You think I'd let my ticket to a life of luxury fall off a fuckin' bridge?”

Sans stayed to the middle of the outcropping and held Frisk's wrist as they stumbled along behind him. To their honest surprise, when they had to stop for a second, he didn't jerk them forward. He'd give their wrist a little squeeze or stop for a second with a few deprecating remarks, but Frisk made it across unscathed and very conflicted on their feelings towards the fat, edgy skeleton.

“See, wasn't so bad, shrimp,” he said as they stood on the other side, the town that much closer. Sans rolled back on the balls of his feet for a second. “Things are a lot easier when you aren't a little piss baby, huh?”

Frisk looked at him for a moment. He wasn't very scary, or threatening, and he wasn't being cruel. He was rude and liked to call them names, but that was better than him chasing them through the Ruins with fire magic and singing their skin and clothes.

 _“Thank you.”_ Frisk signed.

They knew Sans understood, because for one second he looked extremely confused, and the next a very slight blush ran to his cheeks before he turned away with a groan.

“I'm such a fucking pushover,” he hissed like Frisk couldn't hear. He looked back and pointed an accusatory finger in the child's face.

“Listen here, when we get to the house you tell my brother that I was downright nasty to ya, capiche? None of this 'thank you' crap, you're supposed to be scared of me and I'm supposed to be tough but evidently I'm a big fucking failure at everything I do. So... so, yeah.” He finished lamely. When Frisk's only response was to watch him with curious eyes, he turned around completely and shoved his hands even deeper into his pockets.

“I'm gonna get myself killed, and Papyrus is gonna find me in hell and beat the shit out of me,” he growled. “Nice going, Sans.”

Frisk stared at his back as he began to walk again. This didn't seem like a monster who was naturally cruel. They had no idea what he wanted from them, or what they were supposed to do to please him, but they knew one thing for sure:

Frisk was horrified of this 'Papyrus' he kept talking about.

 

 

 


	2. Thinks Himself Generous

As they walked through town, Frisk and their captor were met with vicious stares and faint whispers. The town itself wasn't so bad- it was cozy, but the people seemed to keep to themselves or in tight groups. They all threw the two passerbys awful looks and turned to the people beside them and whispered. Frisk followed Sans like a lost and scared dog, not daring to lag behind.

“How'd Sans manage to catch a human?” drifted over a passing conversation between a monster with a scarf and one that looked like its face was no more than a mask.

“Lets take it.”

“Are you an idiot? He might be fat and useless but what about his brother?”

The other was silent. Frisk felt they were going to be ill.

“Keep up, brat, they aren't afraid of getting their hands dirty,” Sans growled quietly. Frisk realized with panic that they'd begun to trail behind him and walked faster to keep up. “The base is just up ahead.”

Frisk made eye contact with a bear-looking monster that stood outside of what looked like a bar. As the child walked by, the monster's eyes followed them like the plague and unnerved them to their core. They sped up to walk beside Sans instead of behind him. They sort of wished he'd hold their wrist again but they knew that wasn't going to happen and felt stupid for even thinking it.

The 'base' was one of the largest homes in the town, apart from the Library and the dual Inn and Shop. Sans led the child to the door. Apart from being big, the house was bland and rather uninviting. Frisk found themselves shaking in their soaking wet boots.

Sans produced a key from his pocket and turned it in the lock, looking back with a smile at the fear on their face. He said nothing as he lifted his hand, turned back to the door, and gave three rapt knocks. He waited for a few moments before turning the handle and stepping inside. He looked back at the shivering human and motioned with his head for them to go in before him.

Frisk was scared to bits but wasn't going to argue. They could feel the warmth pouring out from the open door and went in as fast as their frost-numbed limbs would take them. They entered a house that was as uninviting and un-homely on the inside as it was externally and Sans shut the door behind them with a definitive click.

Sans walked inside and paused for a moment as if to listen.

“He's upstairs. Take off your shoes, he gets extra pissy when his shit gets dirty.”

Frisk did as they were told, tugging off their sopping boots with trembling hands. Sans was being more quiet. He sounded... nervous? If Sans was scared of his own brother, that meant Frisk had every reason to be terrified.

Sans watched until they were done before he turned back. Frisk took a moment to look at the house- plain walls, tidy things, and about as welcoming as a hospital surgery room.

“Hey, boss!” Sans called sharply, “I'm back from patrol! Got somethin' here you might want to take a look at.”

Frisk stood behind the skeleton, but upon finishing his “welcome home” message he turned back and grabbed their wrist and pulled them forward so they were in front of him.

“Remember what I said or you're gonna be dead before you know it,” he hissed as there came the noise of footfalls going down stairs. Frisk took in a shuddering breath as they saw the monster's shadow fall across the floor.

Sans walked forward with child in tow and stopped in the center of what would probably be a living room.

When Sans's brother emerged from the stairwell, Frisk could feel the blood drain from their face.

Papyrus was tall, slim, and pointed. Essentially, all of the features that made Sans not as intimidating made his brother twice as so. He was wearing what looked like armor- black and red and sharp. His mouth reminded the child more of a jack-o-lantern than a shark, and his eyes found Frisk in less than a second.

He seemed to suck in a breath before he marched forward and Frisk's knees nearly gave out in fright. They caught sight of this new skeleton's claw-like gloves as a hand reached out and roughly grabbed their face, turning it like he didn't believe Frisk was actually human.

“I can't believe this,” he said. His voice was higher than his brother's but no more inviting.

“Yup. Told ya you'd want to see.”

“You've actually done something right!” Papyrus went on to say, and Sans deflated, but the monster still had a rough hold of Frisk's face and their eyes were raised to stare right into the black voids of the bigger skeleton's.

“Sans, this is huge! We could sell this thing to the King and move to the Capital. I could finally get the recognition I deserve as the King's most loyal and powerful Royal Guard. Undyne will be very impressed by this.” The tall skeleton let go of Frisk's face and their eyes fell to the ground. They didn't like Papyrus.

“Don't forget who caught them, bro,” Sans said. “Wasn't exactly easy...”

“Stop lying, you idiot,” Papyrus hissed as he turned on his heels and marched to the kitchen. The remark was scathing enough that Frisk felt bad for Sans. Papyrus went on as he disappeared from sight, “If it was the least bit challenging you would have found some way to mess it up.”

The child turned instinctively to look at Sans's expression. The pupils had gone from his eyes but he wasn't scary- he looked very much disappointed.

“And, furthermore,” Papyrus continued as things were shifted around in the kitchen, “You'll do well not to mention that tiny detail to anybody else, brother. Do you understand?”

“Gotcha, boss,” Sans said. He saw Frisk looking and grimaced before he turned his face away and gave the human's wrist a threatening squeeze.

Papyrus returned with something held in his hand. His long strides brought him before the child once more, where he knelt before they could really question it and had his hands near their throat before they could give a raspy yelp and pull away.

“There we are! We aren't taking any chances with this human, brother,” the tall skeleton said as he rose again. The sudden weight around Frisk's neck was enough to make them squirm in Sans's grasp to free their hand.

A hard knee collided with their stomach, forceful enough to knock the breath out of them, and sent them to their knees. Sans released his hold on their wrist as they coughed and spluttered. Their hands went to their throat to find a collar- a metal, chain-link collar.

“There'll be none of that, now,” Papyrus said like he hadn't just dropped a child to their knees. Frisk was too busy trying to catch their breath to notice the skeleton clipping something to the back of their collar. They only noticed when suddenly they were being strangled.

Their head was forced up and Papyrus got down to look at them. Frisk clawed vainly at the restraint as they wheezed and gasped, but the monster held the chain aloft and only watched them struggle for a few moments.

“If you cause me any trouble, I'll kill you. Is that understood, human?” he said. Frisk gasped, but when their answer wasn't immediate he pulled the chain higher over his head and the child's vision swam. They were just conscious enough to nod before they were released all to suddenly.

They collapsed to the floor and panted like an overheated animal, keeping their hands around their neck and trying to come back from nearly passing out.

“They're too valuable to keep in the shed,” Papyrus said off-handedly. “They'll stay in your room, brother. Feed them something other than that disgusting mustard you drink all the time- and _don't_ let them live off of that repulsive food from Grillby's.”

“Gotcha,” Sans said. It was quiet. Frisk recovered enough to hear Papyrus walking towards the door.

“I'm going to do some research about what humans are good for. Don't leave the house until I return, and don't let that thing out of your sight. Understood?”

“Yeah, boss.”

Papyrus said nothing else. Frisk curled in on themselves, trying to fight back the tears. Their throat hurt. So did their abdomen. The door opened and clicked shut again.

During the entire exchange, Sans hadn't moved. Frisk didn't move from the floor until they heard the rattling of the chain again and whirled with a gasp to face the remaining skeleton.

He'd crouched down on the floor and was holding the chain in one hand, but he didn't put any pressure into it. In fact, he only watched Frisk with an unreadable expression.

_“I'll be good, I promise, please-”_

Something like pity flashed in Sans's sockets and he dropped the chain like it was on fire. He sucked in a sharp breath as he stumbled to his feet and backed up a few steps.

“Shit, I've seen him give a beating but- that was-” Sans stared down at Frisk with big eyes. “I won't do that to ya, kid, I'm not like _him_ ,” Sans said with particular venom on the last word.

Frisk didn't have the heart to think about it. They really didn't have the heart to do more than fall back to the floor and sob despite their burning neck and raspy breaths. They hadn't been expecting Papyrus to be so cruel, but he was even more so than Toriel. They'd done nothing wrong and he'd hurt them so easily. If they stayed he could hurt them whenever he wanted, without repercussion. Frisk felt a wave of despair that just made them cry harder.

When a hand touched their shoulder, they attempted to scream but only came face-to-face with Sans. He'd sunked back down to sit on his knees beside the child.

“Relax, kid. Just me. You should chill out or your throat'll bruise more than it's gonna already.”

Frisk sobbed and stared up at him desperately. They would've signed, but there was no point. He wouldn't really understand, anyways. But he seemed to understand the look.

The skeleton looked away and ran a hand over his skull. “Shit... I didn't think he'd collar ya... he only does that when I mess something real important up...”

The words sunk into their chest. Papyrus had done this to his brother before? They hesitantly went to sit up, and Sans didn't react at all. He stared at the ground in a rather defeated way.

“Fuck. I really am worthless. Monsters aren't supposed to pity people, 'specially little helpless brats like you...”

Frisk sat up, mimicking the monster's position. They knew the look on his face. Somebody had beat those words into him, by hand or by screams. How often was he called worthless by his brother? How often did Papyrus hurt him? As Frisk stared, it seemed like all too much.

They reached a hesitant hand out and touched his shoulder to get his attention. He snapped out of his moment to look at the human who was still crying a little bit.

They pointed to him first, and then began to sign.

_“Good.”_

Sans's eyes went wide for a moment. He seemed stunned. As Frisk's hands came down, he barked out a little laugh.

“Good? You really don't know anything, do you? I'm _weak._ I'm going to get myself killed someday because I'm _weak_ and _pathetic_ and nothing I do is good enough for-”

Sans broke off to look at the floor. Frisk touched his shoulder again, but this time he growled.

“Stop it, kid.”

_“Good. Thank you.”_

“Stop.”

They stopped. Sans seemed surprised by this, but it didn't last long. He took a hold of the chain. Frisk flinched as he stood, but it was long enough that he didn't put an ounce of pressure on their hurt neck.

“Come on. We're gonna be roommates for a while, looks like. Gotta get your dumb ass situated before he comes back and...”

Sans stopped when Frisk looked away sharply. They didn't want to think about that. The collar around their neck was reminder enough that they were powerless to do anything if Papyrus decided to attack again. They hugged themselves tightly.

Sans didn't say anything for a little while. Frisk looked over at him and caught his eye before he looked away.

They did something desperate. They were scared and hurt and they needed to hold something. They moved forward and wrapped their arms around Sans's body as they began to cry again.

For a moment it seemed he was going to draw away. Frisk didn't try to cling to him, but suddenly he stopped fighting it. Frisk put their head on his shoulder and cried for a while.

Sans stood there, completely silent. After a short time, he pushed Frisk gently away from him. They drew back and wiped the tears from their face. Sans didn't move and the human didn't raise their head to look at him.

“Look, pal, chances are he only did that to scare ya. I doubt he'll do it again unless you do something to earn it. I'll try ta stop him from beatin' ya up too bad,” Sans said quietly.

Frisk nodded.

 

Papyrus didn't come back that night. Sans got the human settled in his room and they were asleep in half an hour. The light outside was getting darker. Sans sat on the edge of his bed, half slumped over, with his elbows on his knees and his head perched on his hands.

He watched the human as they slept. They were so out of place amidst the general mess of his bedroom. They looked a hell of a lot more peaceful sleeping, he thought.

A used dog bed was all he had to give them by way of something to sleep on, but he'd balled up one of his jackets for them to use as a pillow. His sheet wasn't really being used, since it was always just rumpled up somewhere not on his bed, so they were using it as a blanket. After they'd eaten half of a hot dog and warmed up, they had fallen asleep. Once again, Sans was left to his own devices.

The human was going to die. Sans didn't try to convince himself that the pathetic runt would survive somehow. Either Papyrus was going to kill them, or the King, or some random monster who really wanted a human soul for themselves. Trying to protect them would only get them both killed.

Sans fell back on his bed spread-eagled and let out a soft groan. Why was he even thinking about saving the human? He should've been finding ways to make use of their power. He shouldn't have been envisioning himself as their protector, or anything of the sort. And he _especially_ shouldn't have been okay with the hug he'd gotten earlier.

But that was just Sans. Soft. Weak. Pathetic. He'd never belonged anywhere in his life and even his own home wasn't safe. Papyrus probably thought he was being nice by beating him senseless and giving him scathing remarks every time they interacted. After all, most monsters would have just killed Sans for weighing them down. Papyrus probably thought himself generous for tolerating his younger brother. He was trying to make Sans strong, because he was the Great Papyrus! But all it really did was make Sans hate his brother, and the world he lived in, and himself, and literally everything.

The skeleton sat up again when he heard a soft noise. He saw the human's face fall. Their leg moved a little. Another small noise escaped them- something like a whimper. Sans knew the feeling of nightmares all too well.

Any self-respecting monster would have let them suffer. Sans sat on the bed for a few seconds and thought about what Papyrus would do- of what Papyrus had done. Going by that, Sans would've let them have the nightmare, and when they woke up the next morning, he would've mocked them for it, and scared them into having even more.

Sans thought about it for a second. The human frowned and their small hand scrunched the worn fabric of his old jacket. He had to swallow before he slid off of the bed and quietly made his way over to them.

Sans was not his brother.

He squatted down close enough that he could see the shine on each individual link of the collar. It wasn't tight around their neck, but there was no way they could get it off without breaking the heavy chain. He'd secured the end of the loose chain to his dresser. The human barely looked big enough to support themselves, let alone lift a piece of furniture.

He didn't really know what he was doing. When had anybody ever shown him kindness? Hell if he even knew what the word meant. Maybe it was the feeling of warmth he'd felt flash in him when they'd pointed to him and signed “good.”

He laid a hand on their head. Their brown hair was messy but soft. They seemed to relax a little at the touch. Sans drew his hand away.

Poor fucking thing, Sans thought. They were soft and fragile. Wouldn't last a day in the real world.

Another distressed noise drew him out of the thought. He gently replaced his hand as softly as he could, because he didn't know how he'd explain himself is they woke up. He gave their hair a tentative stroke. He felt embarrassed for some reason, but their face relaxed again and they stopped squeezing the ball of fabric clutched in their hand.

He sat there for a while, until they didn't whimper when he drew his hand away. Even then, he continued to sit by them with his hands tucked into his pockets, watching their back rise and fall with each breath.

He adjusted the sheet to cover them more before he went to his own bed and drifted off.

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Givin' In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bet y'all thought this was dead- surprise, bitch. 
> 
> sorry for the short update after like 5 years, i just so happened to get sick for a week and that delayed all fic writing smh

 

Sans could never spend very much time with the human- it wasn’t that they were annoying, or tried to talk to him, but there was a dark and sludgy feeling in his chest when he sat in a room with somebody who was going to be dead soon. Somebody who he’d be partially responsible for killing.

Papyrus kept his distance from them, only going in and giving them a little scare every once in a while, but it wasn’t like they were going to try and escape. Sans knew the feeling, and he could see it in their eyes- that hopelessness of having nowhere to go, even if they did manage to get away. It was one of the many reasons he spent a lot of his time in the living room, now.

But, regardless, Sans felt bad. He sat at the bar at Grillby’s, nursing a bottle of mustard, trying to keep his thoughts off of the scrawny little human that waited for him back home.

“Heya Sansy, ya lookin a little bummed out over here,” a rabbit monster and bar frequenter, Lucy, said as she approached and took a seat beside the skeleton. She grinned lazily at him, clearly drunk. “Is it about that lousy little human you two got up in your house? I’d be more ‘n happy to take em off your hands, Sansy.”

“Don’t you have a little cousin to go and torture or something?” Sans asked, trying to ignore the obnoxious customer.

“Aw, don’t be like that, Sansy, you know the whole town’s dying to know what you two are gonna do with that kid.”

“Yeah, and I know it’s the only reason you’re over here talking to me, too. So why don’t you go fuck off and bother somebody else, you drunk motherfucker?”

Lucy seemed miffed but didn’t leave. Instead, she leaned in closer and whined:

“Sans, come on, just tell me what you ‘n Papyrus are gonna do with the little rat. I half expected your brother to take it’s soul himself, but it’s been a week and the thing’s still here in town- I can smell it a mile away, that human stinks, Sansy.”

“Smells better than you,” Sans mumbled, leaning away from the other monster. She reeked of alcohol.

Lucy gave an indignant huff and left. Sans was relieved, but he stared down at his fries and decided he wasn’t hungry anymore. Stupid rabbit, stickin’ her nose where it didn’t belong.

He stood to leave, knowing Grillby would clean up the mess, but then stopped. He’d already paid for the food, he might as well take it back home and give it to the human… the poor thing hadn’t eaten since the day before. He knew he shouldn’t be taking pity on it, but he couldn’t help it.

Grillby gave Sans a box for a small fee, he packed up his food, and walked out of the bar and into the falling snow. Gross. He felt a few flakes drift into his eye socket before he decided he didn’t feel like walking home and teleported to his bedroom door.

When he stepped inside, the human was sleeping on their makeshift bed. They jerked awake as he shut the door loudly behind him, fear in their eyes, but then they saw it was only Sans and they seemed to relax.

“Sup, kid. Brought you some food from Grillby’s- hope ya like fries,” Sans said. He gently tossed the box to the human, who almost dropped it but manage to keep their hold, and they gave him a big-eyed look. They put the box down.

 _“Thank you,”_ they signed, and like it always did, it made Sans feel sick to his non-existent stomach. But he decided to put on his big-boy pants and walked over and sat on the edge of his bed, watching the human as they opened the box and hurriedly started eating the food.

He knew he was probably making a mistake, but he couldn’t help it. They were so close, and he was so fucking desperate for any kind of contact despite not wanting to admit that to himself.

“Hey, you mind if I come over there?” Sans asked, testing the waters. They looked up at him, shoving a stray fry into their mouth, and he could easily see the guarded look- but they shook their head. Sans took the go ahead and got to his feet and went to sit beside the human, leaving some space between them.

“Are you cold?” he asked as he noticed that their hands were shaking. They looked at him with the sheet wrapped around their body and he frowned. They didn’t answer.

“Come on, I’m trying to be nice here, throw me a _bone_ why don’t ya?”

Sans had said it and he’d expected them to groan or glare like Papyrus always did, or even remain silent, but instead they giggled. The noise caught him off-guard and he hardly even recognized it, but he found himself grinning as they gave breathy little huffs in response to his joke.

“ _Yes_ ,” they signed, and Sans got to his feet and went to his dresser.

“Shoulda said something sooner,” he murmured as he produced an old, beat up hoodie that he never wore. He went back to the human and handed it to them- they had to pause eating their fries for a moment, which was probably a good thing. They’d been wolfing them down like no tomorrow.

“Careful with it, now, you mess it up more than it already is and I’m gonna have a _bone_ to pick with you.”

They laughed again as they took the hoodie. The noise was golden- like gentle music, except it was more like a hiss of air and hitching of breath because they couldn’t produce much sound. Still, Sans loved it.

 _“Thank you_ ,” they signed, and smiled. Even if they had big bags underneath their eyes and they were hungry and scared, they still smiled. Sans gulped but did his best to return the gesture.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Being nice to the human made him feel good, but they were going to die and he was going to be responsible. It wasn’t right- but as they tugged on his jacket and snuggled into the warmth his soul twisted painfully and he couldn’t make himself stand up and leave.

“Hey… why did the skeleton need a friend?” he asked.

They looked at him, their eyes big, but the smile faded from their face. It had left his, as well.

“… Cause he was feeling _bonely_.”

The human didn’t respond at first. They looked down at the jacket, and the food, and then back to Sans. Before Sans could regret what he’d said, they scooted closer to him to close the gap and leaned against his side.

Sans didn’t do anything for a moment. He sat, stiff and unsure. Their head was on his shoulder and their warmth was beginning to reach him through his own jacket. Then they snuggled just a little closer, and Sans gave in.

He put his arm around the little human and leaned his head on top of theirs. “You’re a real touchy-feely kinda kid, aren’t ya? Humans sure are weird…”

They were snoring in a matter of minutes. Sans worried that Papyrus would barge in and catch him, but he figured he could teleport away fast enough if that happened. As the kid relaxed and began to fall, he laid their head in his lap and ran a boney hand along their messy hair.

He’d always had dreams about stuff like this- being close to people, telling jokes, laughing. Now here this little rat was, right in front of him, and they were going to die and everything would be over.

Sans frowned.


	4. Friends

“We’re taking the human to Asgore tomorrow.”

Sans looked away from the TV and saw Papyrus standing in the kitchen doorway.

“I’ve negotiated with him and he’s going to give me five hundred thousand gold for the human. Prepare them. I may give you a small portion of the reward.”

Sans sucked in a breath. He knew this day would come, sooner rather than later, but he was still not prepared.

“Tomorrow?” he asked.

“Did I stutter?” Papyrus asked rhetorically, but he didn’t seem all that bothered. “Just have the human ready and presentable. This is probably a good thing for father- Asgore will have them to torture in place of him.”

“You think he’ll torture them?” Sans asked, mostly to himself. He felt grimy and greasy.

“I don’t really care what he does with them, frankly, so long as they are off of our hands and we’ve got the gold we were promised,” Papyrus said, but he seemed in a much better mood then he usually was. “I suppose I should thank you for capturing them so neatly- Asgore would never have paid as much for a soul, he was very intent on the living, breathing human.”

“Yeah, Boss,” Sans murmured, but he was imagining what a beast like Asgore could do to somebody as frail and frightened as the human.

Papyrus left him alone after that, busying himself in the kitchen. Sans was presented silently with a plate of spaghetti, which he accepted with a mumbled “thanks” before Papyrus left again.

His brother was rarely ever this nice to him. Feeding him? Thanking him? It was unprecedented. Sans looked down at his food and frowned.

 

Frisk sat against the wall with Sans’s hoodie wrapped firmly around their shoulders. It felt much better with the over-sized piece of clothing on- with that, and the sheet, the chill of the house was barely noticeable.

It was almost enough to distract them from their imminent doom. Not quite, though.

They huddled into the jacket for comfort. They could hardly even blame Sans for not helping them more- the poor guy seemed like he’d been abused and alone his whole life. Frisk hadn’t exactly came from a loving and caring family, but even they’d had some level of physical contact in their life. Sans didn’t seem to know what to do with himself when they touched him, even the gentlest and most innocent of gestures. His joke the night before was still bouncing around in their head.

He came back to his bedroom a few hours after he’d left. He glanced at Frisk for a moment, but then looked away and hurried to his bed and flopped down on it with a groan.

They watched him as they sipped at the cup of water he’d left them earlier in the day. He sure liked to groan, they’d figured out.

“God fucking damn it, why do you have to be so… so _soft?”_

Frisk blinked as Sans flopped over and looked at them with a glare. “I’m not supposed to give a damn what happens to you- you know that, right? You’re a whiny, bratty little human and your soul is worth, apparently, five hundred thousand gold, I’m supposed to care about the money and the ‘prestige’ or what the fuck ever, not about you bein’ warm and havin’ something to sleep on and-“ Sans cut off again with a load, obnoxious groan, but he silenced it in his pillow.

Frisk didn’t really know what to do in response to that. They stared at him.

“Don’t look at me like that- you think you deserve to run back to the surface while I get to stay down here with my motherfucker of a brother? It sucks down here. It’s fucking awful. And you think you deserve to leave? And not me? Pretty fucking selfish if you ask me, kid.”

Sans fell back again, grabbing his pillow and slamming it onto his face as he did so. It would have been amusing, Frisk thought, except that he sounded on the verge of tears.

They stood and walked as close to him as their restraint let them. He peeked out at them and Frisk saw the beginnings of tears in his eyes. When he saw them so close, he groaned and flipped over so that his back was facing them.

“Go the fuck away. You’re making me want to die more than I already do.”

Frisk sucked in a breath at the words, but he said them so nonchalantly that Frisk wondered if they meant anything anymore.

They stood. They weren’t really sure what to do, or how to respond. They tried to cough, or make any sort of noise, but when they did Sans moved like lightning and suddenly they were thrown back down on their awful bed, Sans standing with his shoulders squared and tears running down his face.

Frisk gasped. The breath had been knocked from their lungs and their chest was sore where he’d thrown them down. They met his angry glare only for a moment before they curled in on themself and looked away.

 _“I’m sorry,”_ they signed meekly. “ _Please don’t hurt me.”_

“What makes you think anybody is going to listen to you when you say that?” Sans growled. “Everybody gets hurt down here, get used to it. Or, no, I guess you don’t have to- Papyrus is gonna sell you to the King tomorrow and he’ll kill you and take your soul.”

Their eyes went wide and their mouth opened as though to speak, but they only stared at the ground. Tomorrow? They were going to die tomorrow? Frisk curled into a ball and only realized they were crying when they had to take in a shuddering gasp to catch their breath.

They didn’t look up again, and Sans didn’t move. There was an awkward and frightening silence before the human finally raised their eyes to look at the monster before them.

The anger had melted from his face. Frisk stared up- pleading in their eyes- before they sobbed and turned away from him.

He wouldn’t help them. He’d hurt them. Frisk was going to die.

When they felt a hand on their shoulder, they tensed and tightened themself into a ball.

“Hey.”

Frisk didn’t do anything. They wished they could disappear into the ground.

“Hey, kid, I… I’m sorry. I know you’re a pansy. I shouldn’t ‘a roughed you up.”

The human let out a little shaky sob, but they still didn’t look at the monster kneeling beside them. Tomorrow?

“Come on, at least look at me. I’m, uh… I can get angry sometimes, but I don’t have a _bone_ to pick with you… heh. Come on, kid.”

_“I don’t want to die.”_

Frisk signed it, but they didn’t expect him to understand. They looked and saw him staring with some unidentifiable emotion in his eyes.

“I don’t really wanna die, either,” he said quietly. Softly. It was odd, because even when he’d came out and said he was lonely and sad, he’d still joked, and his voice still had that nice roughness to it. Now it was gone.

_“I’m sorry,”_

“Can I ask you something?”

Frisk looked at him. It was an open and sincere sentiment, and they hadn’t been expecting it. They looked. They uncurled themself a little bit, but Sans was still kneeling beside them.

“If things were different, do ya think we could’ve been friends?”

Frisk blinked, completely unprepared for the question. They watched, considering that he might be joking, but he’d looked away as soon as he’d said it and his eyes were… sad. They were really sad.

Frisk nodded and brought their hands up, which pulled his attention.

_“We can be friends now. We have a day.”_

It seemed to take him a moment to process what they’d said, but then realization flashed in his eyes and he let out a bark of laughter- rough, unfiltered laughter that had him doubled over in just a second. He put his hand on Frisk’s shoulder again even when the laughter turned into sobs and he began crying in earnest.

“Shit,” he breathed as he hugged the human to him and steadied himself.

Frisk held him with ginger arms, eyes on the floor as his body shook with strangled sobs. It was like he was trying to hold it all in- even when it was all coming out.

The human tightened their arms around him and patted his back. 

 


End file.
